10th Sept: Parliamentary Debate on the Detention Inquiry

The debate scheduled for the 10th September 2015 will be the first full parliamentary debate on the detention inquiry report, which was published in March 2015 and strongly recommended the UK government introduce a time-limit on detention.

‘That this House supports the recommendations of the report of the Joint Inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration, The Use of Immigration Detention in the United Kingdom; has considered the case for reform of immigration detention; and calls on the Government to respond positively to those recommendations.’

The debate was secured by Richard Fuller MP (Conservative), Paul Blomfield MP (Labour), David Burrowes MP (Conservative) and Kirsten Oswald MP (SNP) who made an application to the Backbench Business Committee in late July 2015. But now it is up to us to make sure as many MPs as possible attend the debate and add their voice in support of the detention inquiry’s key recommendations (see below):

What Can You Do

Contact your local MP and urge them to support the recommendations of the detention inquiry report and attend the debate. You can write to them, visit their constituency office to speak to your MP face-to-face, or contact (at least some of) them via Twitter. Remember it is always important to demonstrate how indefinite detention affects you and your local area, as much as it is a wider national outrage. You can find out who your MP is here.

The Detention Forum have produced this handy briefing for the debate so make sure you use it to encourage your MP to take part, especially if they are new to the issue of detention. (It might be worth pointing out to your MP that the cross-party group MPs secured this debate. If your MP is a Conservative MP, mention that David Burrowes MP and Richard Fuller MP were on the detention inquiry panel and secured this debate. If your MP is a Labour MP, mention that Paul Blomfield MP is involved in this debate. If your MP is an SNP MP, mention Kirsten Oswald MP was also there to support the application. We know that Liberal Democrats MPs are already supportive of this).

You can add your voice to the #UnlockTheDebate – an alternative debate on the detention inquiry hosted by our friends Right to Remain as part of the Detention Forum, set to run from the 1st – 10th September! Find out more about how to get involved here.